X + 2018 = Championship for Werner

The X-Factors and owner Joe Werner have won their first PicketLine championship after nine seasons out of the money. Joe's previous years were mostly spent in the basement, with a two year hiatus, until he finally broke out a little with a 7th place finish last year.

The noted prospect expert used a very fluid lineup all year, as the underrated Mallex Smith led his team in ABs with 353. Smith had 30 SB and a .373 OB% for the club. Joe made two blockbuster trades that included JD Martinez, Blake Snell, Kris Bryant, Aaron Judge, Matt Carpenter, and Joey Votto, among others.  Needless to say, his offense was loaded and he wasn't afraid to trade stars.

The X-Factors' pitching staff was a bit more stable however, relying on studs like Edwin Diaz (57 Sv, 124 K, 0.79 WHIP), Joe Jimenez (23 Hld), and Trevor Bauer (20 QS, 221 K, 2.21 ERA, 1.09 WHIP).

Congratulations to Joe!

2nd: Designated Shitters ($500) Nick Laguardia
3rd: Bohemian Lifestyles ($300) Josh Robbins
4th: Jerkin my Kurkjian ($200) Joe Moore

Owner Roster 2018: Know Your Enemies!

69witSuzynWaldman - John Treadwell - Stafford, VA
AllFlashNoCash - Dave Prince - Hopewell Junction, NY
Biff's Bombers - John Bifolco - Vineyard Haven, MA
Bohemian Lifestyles - Josh Robbins - Gilbert, AZ
Brewmasters - Chris Jenkins - Poughkeepsie, NY
Character Issues - Don Bernovich - Longmont, CO
Designated Shitters - Nick Laguardia - Poughkeepsie, NY
Jerkin my Kurkjian - Joe Moore - Limerick, PA
JF's Adrenalin Pills - Bret Jenkins - Garrison, NY
Los Barbudos - Sven Jenkins - Ulster Park, NY
NY Metroponzians - Sean Comerford - Burlington, CT
PeeDrinkingCrapFace - Dan Slate - Poughkeepsie, NY
Rivercity Catfish - Bruce Heard - Fair Oaks, CA
Slump Buster - Alan Sarpy - Santa Rosa, CA
SONS OF PITCHES - Eric Rosin - Westbury, NY
Sux2BeMetsFan - Shane Lutz - Poughkeepsie, NY
Tallywhacker Jackers - Luke Zukowski - Poughkeepsie, NY
The Good Wood - Mike D'Auria - Brooklyn, NY
Very Small Rocks! - Winston Guest - San Diego, CA
X-Factors - Joe Werner - Lakewood, OH

FINALLY!  After 13 seasons of suffering through brutal summers and a heartbreaking 2nd place, Sven Jenkins (Los Barbudos) finally won his own league.  He used a team with very few stars but very few holes.  Yuli Gurriel (249 TB, 60 K), and Josh Bell (246 TB, 86 RBI) were there all year long, while Carlos Correa (232 TB, .391 OB%) supplied the star power when he wasn't missing time injured.  David Peralta (74 R, 202 TB) and Nomar Mazara (84 RBI) were the unsung heroes in the corner outfield, while Billy Hamilton racked up the SBs.  A couple of transactions were also key to his success.  Jenkins dealt A.J. Pollock for Trea Turner (43 SB, 178 TB) and claimed a then-struggling Alex Bregman (135 TB, .367 OB%) off waivers.

Luis Severino was the clear ace of this pitching staff, throwing 21 QS with 230 Ks.  The rest of the starters included sleeper rookies like Jake Faria (9 QS) and Dinelson Lamet (7 QS).  Alex Colome (47 Sv) and Felipe Rivero (21 Sv, 14 Holds) anchored the bullpen.

Shane Lutz (Gr82BeMetsFan) was neck and neck with Los Barbudos for much of the second half.  The two teams went back and forth multiple times before The Bearded Ones pulled away in the last week.

Lutz' team had the incredible power duo of rookie Aaron Judge (320 TB, .424 OB%) and Bryce Harper (243 TB, .409 OB%).  Eric Hosmer (286 TB, .382 OB%) had a superstar season and Ender Inciarte (20 SB, 242 TB) put up another great all-around campaign.  J.T. Realmuto (240 TB) held the squad together behind the plate while putting up excellent numbers for a catcher.

Jacob deGrom (21 QS) led the pitching staff, which rode the early season success of Alex Wood and a comeback year from Sonny Gray (16 QS, 1.18 WHIP).  The bullpen was scripted by Archie Bradley (24 Hld) in the eighth and Roberto Osuna (39 Sv) closing.

Dan Slate (BACK AFTAH THIS) takes home 3rd place and the $300 prize this year.  This is Dan's third finish in the money and his highest ever finish.  The avid Francessa listener can thank Jose Altuve (112 R, 32 SB, 323 TB, .412 OB%) and Buster Posey (225 TB, .399 OB%) for his offense's success.  Innings eaters like Masahiro Tanaka (17 QS) and Jason Vargas (12 QS) started, and relief aces Andrew Miller (27 Hld) and Kelvin Herrera (25 Sv) finished games.

4th place goes to Dave Prince (AllFlashNoCash), after a hard fought finish to the season.  Unsung stars Kyle Seager (251 TB), Jay Bruce (278 TB, 97 RBI), and Carlos Santana (90 R, 260 TB) supplied the power, while Eduardo Nunez (23 SB, 211 TB, .344 OB%) filled the rest of the box score.  Max Scherzer (22 QS) and Gio Gonzalez (22 QS) dominated, while Corey "Evil" Knebel (drafted in the last round!) racked up 39 saves.


The Pathetic Quotient, an advanced metric created by the Brewmasters that uses transactions and place in the standings to see who did the most work for the smallest gain, is out again this year.  And of course, it's Josh Robbins (Bohemian Lifestyles) who ranks highest.  He used a whopping 379 moves to finish in 17th place!  Congrats Josh!

Congrats to everyone on a very competitive season!

2016: Icemen Put PicketLine in Deep Freeze

Bret Jenkins (Icemen of the Hudson) finally broke his 1st place curse.  After finishing in a money spot 6 times without taking the ultimate prize, Bret gave us all a dominant performance that never left anything in doubt.

The Icemen led basically wire to wire, with almost nobody close to him in the standings.  Mookie Betts, Joey Votto, D.J. LeMahieu, and Brandon Belt made sure he stayed on top in OB% and TB, while Alex Colome shut the door.

John Treadwell (69witSuzynWaldman) put up a valient effort, slowly creeping up on the Icemen all summer.  In the end, second place will have to do for a team that was 30 points ahead of the 3rd place team.

See you next year!

2015 Wrap-Up: A Season of Comebacks

Congratulations to Eric Kantner (New Market Mallers) and Sven Jenkins (Los Barbudos) on finishing 1st and 2nd!!!  These two teams sat 11th and 12th, respectively, at the all-star break, and went on impressive second half runs that defied the idea that you can be buried for good in a rotisserie league.

This was Kantner's second consecutive first place finish (tied last year).  His Boston trio of David Ortiz, Mookie Betts, and Xander Bogaerts led his offense, while Jake Arrieta carried his pitching staff.

Jenkins' squad had the sick bats of Josh Donaldson and Joey Votto, while the pitching staff was anchored by Noah Syndergaard.

Great season everyone!

There Are No Ties in Baseball !!??!! 2014 Wrap-Up

After 162 games of Hits, RBI, SB, K, and Holds, we ended in a frickin’ tie.  And unlike Bud Selig, there is nothing I can do to change it.  The PicketLine league does NOT have a tie-breaker rule, so the teams will simply split the two $$$ prizes.

Well, congratulations to Eric Kantner (New Market Mallers) for finishing in 1^st place with Joe Moore (WTFUTLEY).  This makes back-to-back championships for Moore, who sat atop the standings all by himself in 2013.  Kantner and Moore will get $750 each.

The Mallers lingered near the top of the standings all season, but used a late-season surge to grab the money spot.  David Ortiz(3^rd round), Michael Brantley(11^th), Billy Hamilton(2^nd), Neil Walker(18^th), Devin Mesoraco(19^th), Brock Holt(trade) and Anthony Rendon(10^th) led a balanced offense all summer.  Kantner’s pitching staff included Dodgers lefties, Clayton Kershaw (1^st) and Hyun-Jin Ryu(7^th).  Bartolo Colon(13^th) mixed in 16 QS and Michael Wacha(4^th) dealt in the first half of the season before his injury.  The bullpen was anchored by Huston Street’s(8^th) 41 Saves and a shocking season out of Pat Neshek(free agent).

WTFUTLEY overcame a dismal season from 1^st round pick David Wright thanks to an early June trade with 69witSuzynWaldman, who took a struggling Wright in exchange for Felix Hernandez.  Wow.  Moore’s 2^nd through 6^th round picks didn’t hurt either, as he hit on all of them… Giancarlo Stanton(2^nd), Starling Marte Partay(3^rd), Ian Kinsler(4^th), Jordan Zimmermann(5^th), and Jose Abreu (6^th).  The day before the Wright/Hernandez trade, Moore also grabbed Josh Harrison off the waiver wire.  Those two moves were likely the turning point in his season.  Chris Archer(9^th) and Garrett Richards(free agent) combined for 36 QS, while Addison Reed(7^th) and Jenrry Mejia(18^th) closed 59 games.  Wade Davis(free agent) had the best season for any reliever in baseball, mixing with Luke Gregerson(16^th) and Joba Chamberlain(free agent) to rack up Holds.

Finishing in 3^rd place was, of course, Bret Jenkins and The Jimy Kelly Rule.  Bret has now finished in the money six times, without ever taking 1^st place.  Bret once again led the league in transactions, with 332.  Jimy Kelly broke the backs of opposing pitchers with a lineup that included Buster Posey(3^rd), Victor Martinez(7^th), Mike Trout(1^st), and Brett Gardner(6^th).  On the mound, Jon Lester(9^th) and C.J. Wilson(11^th) were the only starters to throw over 100 innings for the club, with Lester posting 27 QS.  Dillon Gee(13^th) pitched well in eight QS and Jessie Hahn(free agent) dealt for 60 innings and six QS.  The back-end of the bullpen was Jenkins’ strong point, with Trevor Rosenthal(4^th) and Craig Kimbrel(2^nd) combining for 78 Saves.

4^th place was a bit of a shocker.  SONS OF PITCHES came out of nowhere to claim the final money spot.  On 9/16, I mentioned them as a possible sleeper on the league blog, but in my mind I wasn’t really giving them a chance based on how far back they were.  However, field manager Eric Rosin used that crazy screaming baseball to rally an offense that included Robinson Cano(1^st), Kyle Seager(8^th), Anthony Rizzo(6^th), Christian Yelich(11^th), Russell Martin(14th), Carl Crawford(10^th), Jason Heyward(4^th) and Corey Dickerson(free agent) to grab the final $200.  When Jose Fernandez(2^nd) went down early in the season it looked like Rosin’s season was doomed.  But starters like Hiroki Kuroda(9^th), Ervin Santana(12^th) and Collin McHugh(free agent) picked up the slack.  A resurgent Jonathan Broxton(free agent) and a consistent Darren O’Day(free agent) piled up Holds, while Santiago Casilla(18^th) picked up some crucial late-season Saves.

Congratulations to all the money winners!!!  As for the rest of us, we stink.

The Best Draft Pick Award goes to Chris Jenkins (Brewmasters), who selected Lucas Duda with the first pick of the final round.  Duda finished the season as the 74^th ranked player in Yahoo, had 92 RBI, 247 TB and .349 OB%.  Unfortunately, the Brewmasters dropped Duda TWICE during the season, before he was finally picked up for good by Shoving & Squeezing on May 28.  The Brewmasters also took Wily Peralta(22 QS) with the last pick of the 21^st round, but again the Brewmasters never reaped the rewards, dropping Peralta for the legendary bat of Justin Ruggiano before the season even began.

Worst Draft Pick Award goes to Sven Jenkins (Los Barbudos), Bryce Harper 3^rd overall.  I didn’t have to look far to figure this one out.  Just three picks into the draft and my team exploded.  Honorable mention goes to the poor owners who took Carlos Gonzalez, Chris Davis and Prince Fielder.  Ugh.

Worst Team Name… this was a tough one this year, with half the league being in contention, but I’m going with Kilt Spinners.  Brutal.

2014 Final Weeks..!..

Just 2 weeks remain in the fantasy baseball season and the PicketLine Fantasy Baseball League is looking at a classic 1st place battle...

Defending champion Joe Moore (WTFUTLEY) and Eric Kantner (New Market Mallers) are separated by just 1/2 a point going into tonight's games.

Can UTLEY follow in the footsteps of the old Roughnecks squad, and win back-to-back titles?... or will Eric and his dysfunctional Married With Children inspired team dethrone the champs?

Both clubs have stellar pitching staffs and sneaky good offenses.

The battle for the final two money spots will come down to a few original league members... Bret Jenkins (The Jimy Kelly Rule) and Josh Robbins (Bohemian Lifestyles) seem to be the frontrunners, with each owner relentlessly working the waiver wire.  Watch out for a flurry of late-season action from these two.

BUT, they need to watch their backs.  Chris Jenkins (Brewmasters), Andrew Tarkowski (Mount Gay Rum), and Eric Rosin (SONS OF PITCHES) are primed to steal a spot if anyone falters.

As for the rest of us, well, we're just hoping to retain a little dignity before the season ends.

2014 Owner List: Know Your Competition

Here's the owner list for 2014... we have only four new owners this season.  Each US time zone is represented.

• 69withSuzynWaldman - John Treadwell - Woodbridge, VA
• AllFlashNoCash - David Prince - Hopewell Junction, NY
• Biff's Bombers - John Bifolco - Martha's Vineyard, MA  *** New Owner ***
• BluBloodLine - Alan Sarpy - Santa Rosa, CA
• Bohemian Lifestyles - Josh Robbins - Gilbert, AZ
• Brewmasters - Chris Jenkins - Dover Plains, NY
• Chumps - Chirag Amin - Houston, TX
• Kilt Spinners - D.J. Lysenko - Hyde Park, NY  *** New Owner ***
• Los Barbudos - Sven Jenkins - La Havana, Cuba
• Mount Gay Rum - Rob Moran and Andrew Tarkowski - Camillus, NY
• NY Metroponzians - Sean Comerford - Hartford, CT
• New Market Mallers - Eric Kantner - Goshen, NY
• Rivercity Catfish - Bruce Heard - Fair Oaks, CA
• Sons of Pitches - Eric Rosin - Merrick, NY
• Shoving & Squeezing - Dan Slate - Poughkeepsie, NY
• Sux2BeMetsFan - Shane Lutz - Poughkeepsie, NY   *** New Owner ***
• The Jimy Kelly Rule - Bret Jenkins - Forest Hills, NY
• The Price is Wright - Paul Prince - Poughkeepsie, NY   *** New Owner ***
• WTFUTLEY - Joe Moore - Limerick, PA
• X-Factors - Joe Werner - Lakewood, OH

WTFUTLEY Dominates in 2013

Congratulations to WTFUTLEY (Joe Moore) on winning the 2013 PicketLine Production Fantasy Baseball League.  Joe's team dominated in almost every facet of the game, winning the league by a healthy 13.5 point margin.  WTFUTLEY finished in the top4 in nine of the 12 categories, including first in TB and OBP.  Joe made six trades during the season, four of which turned out to be gems, and one acquired Mike Trout (traded for on 4/11), who led the offensive charge, piling up numbers in every category.  Joe picked on Bohemian Lifestyles three separate times, stealing Max Scherzer, Jose Fernandez, Freddie Freeman, Steve Cishek, and Billy Butler!!!!  Joe also acquired Chase Utley and Koji Uehara from the Brewmasters in exchange for Cole Hamels in mid-May.  Rookie Evan Gattis (waiver wire pickup on 4/6) gave WTFUTLEY a big boost at the catcher position, while Ben Zobrist and Martin Prado helped give WTFUTLEY one of best infields in the PLPFBL.  This was Joe's first winning season after five attempts at the league, and he made it count, cashing in with $1000.

The NY Metroponzians (Sean Comerford) finished in the money for the second straight season.  Sean leaned heavily on a rotation that included Clayton Kershaw, Madison Bumgarner, and surprise seasons out of Ervin Santana and Travis Wood.  The Metroponzians had a well-balanced offense that included Adrian Beltre, Yadier Molina, Jean Segura, and Jose Altuve.  Sean's bullpen was solidified in mid-May, when he dealt platoon 1B Brandon Moss for Hold specialist Joel Peralta.  Sean relied heavily on his draft, and was rewarded with a number excellent choices.  Sean will take home the $500 2nd place prize.

Finishing third in their first year in PLPFBL was the Rivercity Catfish (Bruce Heard).  Bruce proved to be a slick owner, filling his lineup with power bats and a surprisingly good starting rotation.  The Catfish were carried by career years out of Chris Davis and waiver wire pickup Josh Donaldson.  The starting rotation included Hisashi Iwakuma, Alex Cobb, Patrick Corbin, and Jake Peavy, while Glen "the Percolator" Perkins, Rex Brothers, and Jim Johnson closed games.  Bruce earned the $300 prize for third place.

a greasy B12 mullet (Bret Jenkins) grabbed the final cash prize of 2013.  Bret used 226 transactions to earn 4th place.  His rag-tag offense endured the loss of Ryan Braun and a whole lot of suckage from Paul Konerko, Melky Cabrera, and Kevin Youkilis.  I mean Wow, Bret had a bad draft.  Coco Crisp was the best player on the team, crushing 225 Total Bases and stealing 21 for the club.  Matt Harvey led the pitching staff, throwing 18 QS for the Mullets.  The back end of the bullpen was loaded, with Aroldis Chapman, Ernesto Frieri, and Jim Henderson closing games, while rookie Trevor Rosenthal dominated in the 8th inning.

Bohemian Lifestyles (Josh Robbins) gets the PQ (Pathetic Quotient) Award for 2013.  PQ is a metric created by the Brewmasters, measuring bad fantasy management.  There might be a formula, but no one knows what it is.  This is top secret stuff.  Basically, it's the # of transactions compared to place in the standings.  And this year, with a league-leading 380 moves and a 16th place finish, Josh wins in a run-away.


Draft Pick of the Year comes down to two excellent selections at the very end of the night.  a greasy B12 mullet took Jim Henderson (28 Saves) with the 18th pick in the last round.  And New Market Mallers (Eric Kantner) selected Bartolo Colon (23 QS, 2.65 ERA) with the 19th pick in the final round.

The 2013 Owner List

Here's the list of the 2013 owners, so we know who our enemies are....

• 69witSuzynWaldman - John Treadwell - Woodbridge, VA
• Acorn - Tom Horan - Long Island City, NY
• AllFlashNoCash - Dave Prince - Hopewell Junction, NY
• Bohemian Lifestyles - Josh Robbins - Gilbert, AZ
• Brewmasters - Chris Jenkins - Poughkeepsie, NY
• Chumps - Chirag Amin - Houston, TX
• Jojo - Joe Humble - Brooklyn, NY
• Krupa Troopas - Mike Krupa - Mendon, MA
• Los Barbudos - Sven Jenkins - New Paltz, NY
• Maybe I won't suck - Joe Wood - Virginia
• Mo death and taxes - Dan Slate - Poughkeepsie, NY
• Mount Gay Rum - Rob Moran and Andrew Tarkowski - Camillus, NY
• NY Metroponzians - Sean Comerford - Connecticut
• New Market Mallers - Eric Kantner - Goshen, NY
• Rivercity Catfish - Bruce Heard - California
• SONS OF PITCHES - Eric Rosin - Merrick, NY
• TROUSER TROUT - Alan Sarpy - Santa Rosa, CA
• WTFUTLEY - Joe Moore - Limerick, PA
• X-Factors - Joe Werner - Garfield Heights, OH
• a greasy B12 mullet - Bret Jenkins - Astoria, NY

Brewmasters Kill the Keg in 2012

Congratulations to the Brewmasters, and owner Chris "Cribs" Jenkins, a notorious Town of Poughkeepsie mafioso, for capturing the 2012 PicketLine Production Fantasy Baseball League championship.

The Brewmasters took over first place about 3/4 of the way through the season (I think), and were able hang on to the $1000 first place prize.  The team looked doomed after their #3 hitter, Melky Cabrera was susupended for PEDs, but that turned to the be point when the Brewmasters took off.  Led by Dustin Pedroia, Jose Reyes, and Allen Craig, the drunken squad put up points across the board, while pitchers Craig Kimbrell and Joel Peralta shut the door in the late innings.  Hiroki Kuroda, Anibal Sanchez, and Tim Hudson logged plenty of Quality Starts, while Kris Medlen gave the pitching staff an incredible late season boost.  Jenkins' shrewdest move of the year, may have been the decision to trade away Mariano Rivera, just a day before his season-ending knee injury.  This was Jenkins' second PicketLine championship (2005).  Also, a historic note.... the Brewmasters' 171 points is the lowest total ever to win the league.

In possibly the greatest pennant race in PicketLine history, which included five teams that had a legitimate shot at first place, Dave Prince and AllFlashNoCash narrowly escaped with the $400 second place prize.  Prince's success was simple to understand.... he had #1 overall pick, Miguel Cabrera.  The rest of his offense was a bunch of strikeout artists, like Dan Uggla, Chris Davis, and Mark Trumbo.  He also pulled a miracle by getting a good season out of Alex Rios!  Yadier Molina, Coco Crisp, and Elvis Andrus helped correct the incredible amount of whiffs, while A.J. Burnett and Adam Wainwright led the team in Quality Starts.  The Jonathan Papelbon / Joel Hanrahan closer duo certainly helped as well.

Chirag Amin's Chumps have now finished in 3rd place for the 3rd consecutive season.  The Chumps always compete for the top spot and this year they were led by Chase Headley (114 RBI), Joe Mauer, Corey Hart, and Josh Reddick.  Chirag's starting rotation was loaded with guys like Justin Verlander, Yovani Gallardo, Gio Gonzalez, and Stephen Strasburg.  However, the Chumps struggled at the back end of games.  J.J. Putz and Frank Francisco split the closer duties and Chirag searched all year for someone that could consistently produce Holds.

The NY Metroponzians won their first cash prize ($200) in the nine year history of the PicketLine league.  Sean Comerford's squad looked like they were going to run away with the league early on, but the dog days of summer caught up to his team of money launderers.  Edwin Encarnacion captained the NY offense, driving in 110 runs.  Adam Jones and Jason Kubel put up monster first halves, before Kubel cooled off and Jones was dealt for Johnny Cueto.  Justin Upton had a solid season, and Ben Revere chipped in 29 SBs.  Despite getting excellent seasons out of Zack Greinke, Chris Sale, and Cliff Lee, the pitching staff was doomed by their bullpen.  An early season trade for Mariano Rivera, just one day before he blew out his knee, put Sean deep in the hole.  He decided to punt the Saves category, and ultimately his lack of a closer may have doomed his season.

PicketLine rookie, Dan Slate, earned his money back by leading Fister? Just met her to a 5th place finish.  Slate talked a lot of trash to go with a team that led the PicketLine in ERA.  The five-man rotation of Felix Hernandez, Ryan Vogelsong, Jeremy Hellickson, Ian Kennedy, and of course, Doug Fister, put the offense on their backs all summer long.  Papa Grande (Jose Valverde) and Glen "the Percolator" Perkins shut the door in the 9th inning, while David Roberston racked up Holds.  Offensively, it was a struggle at times.  First round pick, Jacoby Ellsbury barely played all year due to injury.  Brandon Phillips led the team in both RBI (86) and Runs(77), and Ian Desmond led in Total Bases (257).  Slate traded for Albert Pujols for the stretch run, but it wasn't enough to put this team into first place.

And pulling the up the rear was Ken Koller's Madres squad, who infamously motherfucked anyone who plays fantasy sports.  The Madres final total of 61.5 points is the second lowest of all-time.  The worst team in PicketLine history was last year's Winning! team owned by Justin Bastinelli, who managed just 53 points!

There was great league activity this year, with the vast majority of teams making moves until the final few days.  Great season, see you next year!

The 2012 Competition

Here's the list of the 2012 owners, so we know who our enemies are....

• #DIV/0! - Josh Robbins - Gilbert, AZ
• 69witSuzynWaldman - John Treadwell - Fredericksburg, VA
• Acorn - Tom Horan - Long Island City, NY
• AllFlashNoCash - Dave Prince - Hopewell Junction, NY
• Brewmasters - Chris "Cribs" Jenkins - Poughkeepsie, NY
• CITI-REX - Eric Rosin - Merrick, NY
• Chumps - Chirag Amin - Houston, TX
• Cool Story BroStars - Tom Comerford - Unknown, NY?
• Fister? Just met her - Dan Slate - Poughkeepsie, NY
• Los Barbudos - Sven Jenkins - Poughkeepsie, NY
• Madres - Ken Koller - Los Angeles, CA
• Mount Gay Rum - Rob Moran and Andrew Tarkowski - Camillus, NY
• NY Metroponzians - Sean Comerford - Hartford, CT
• New Market Mallers - Eric Kantner - Goshen, NY
• Piece of Schmidt - Jon Crooker - Havertown, PA
• Team Werner - Joe Werner - Garfield Heights, OH
• The Fucksticks - Matt Mahoney - Gilbert, AZ
• The Planet - Bret Jenkins - Astoria, NY
• WTFUTLEY - Joe Moore - Limerick, PA
• adios pantalones - Joe Wood and T. Murphy - Unknown, VA?

Roughnecks Capture 4th PLPFBL Title

Congratulations to the Roughnecks on winning the 2011 $1000 1st place prize! Offensively, the Roughnecks were led by Lance Berkman, Ben Zobrist, Troy Tulowitzki, Nick Markakis, and Adrian Beltre, while Shaun Marcum, Madison Bumgarner, Ricky Nolasco, and John Axford anchored the pitching staff. The majority of the league must have been comatose when they allowed Greg to pick up rookie studs Brett Lowrie and Desmond Jennings to solidify his lead in the 2nd half.

In just five years of owning the Roughnecks, Greg Wozniak has now won the league four times. In 2011, Greg ran away with the title early and we were all playing for 2nd place since sometime in June. He settled for only 4th place in 2009, but still took home the old 2nd half prize of $100 that year. Greg has now collected $2600 in winnings for a $2300 net.

And guess who finished 2nd.... yep, it's everyone's favorite runner-up, Bret Jenkins. Bret tied his all-time transactions record of 560 on the season, and he needed every one of those moves to hang on to 2nd place. Joey Votto took the revolving door of scrubs that Bret assembled, put them on his back, and carried them all year. Heath Bell and Mike Adams look like the only pitchers that played a full season for Uhhh... Lucky Devil!.

Bert has now finished in 2nd place four times and 3rd place once, but has never captured ultimate fantasy glory. Bret has been an owner since the inception of the league and has never finished worse than 8th place. Bret's Uhhh... Lucky Devil! team takes home the $400 2nd place prize in 2011.

The trend continues with 3rd place. Chirag Amin's Chumps squad finished 3rd for the second year in a row and took home $300. The Chumps usually "sit on their team", much like the Commish does, and this year was no different. Chirag used only 103 transactions and relied on the season-long production of guys like Torii Hunter, Jimmy Rollins, Coco Crisp and Aramis Ramirez. Ryan Braun, Matt Wieters, Albert Pujols, and Carlos Lee also made huge contributions. Tim Lincecum, Jordan Zimmermann, Tommy Hanson, and Carlos Marmol led the pitching staff. Chirag also has a 4th place finish in his history and is a consistent top-10 finisher.

Fourth place ($200) goes to Commissioner Sven. The Duda Abides used an excellent second half surge and nearly reached second place in the season's final days. Dustin Pedroia and Brett Gardner led the team all summer, but they were never able to recover from the loss of Ike Davis to injury. Justin Verlander was the entire starting rotation, putting together one of the great pitching seasons of all time, while David Robertson and Eric O'Flaherty both dominated in middle relief roles. The Commish takes home his first prize money since 2006, when he finished in 3rd place as an absentee owner while traveling through South America. Sven has now finished in 4th place three times.

Fifth place goes to the most hated owner in the PLPFBL, Josh Robbins, and his Red Stripe and Reggae team. Josh's trading strategy has angered owners for years, and one owner in the bottom of the standings told me this year, "The only reason I'm still making moves is to try and keep Reggae out of the top five. I'm trying to take his points." Well, unfortunately for that ticked off owner, Reggae was able to jump seven points in the standings thanks to a final day that earned three QS, and edge out adios pantalones for the final $100 prize. Using a similar revolving door strategy as Lucky Devil, Reggae only had three players get over 300 at-bats with his team, Chris Young, A.J. Pierzynski, and Brandon Phillips. On the mound, Carlos Zambrano led the team with 77.2 IP. Yikes!

Draft Pick of the Year Award: David Robertson was selected with the last pick of the draft and he responded by picking up 34 Holds with a 1.08 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in 66.2 innings. Congrats to 69witSuzynWaldman for making the best draft pick of the year. Sorry, no cash for that.

Best Team Names in PLPFBL History

Finally, the post we've all been waiting for.... the Best Team Names in the History of the PLPFBL.

The team name is the most important part of fantasy sports, and these owners had it figured out for at least one season.

10. Los Presidentes (2009, finished 9th): Classic spanish name that calls to mind some of the great latin baseball players and presidents of all time, like Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez.

9. John Rocker (2007, finished 15th): Simple idea, take one of the most controversial baseball players of our time and name your team after him. I'm not sure what's funnier about Rocker, how stupid he was, or how stupid he looked.

8. Mosquito Dickson (2006, finished 3rd): Somewhat similar to the Dahl Bhat name that made the 10 Worst list, in that only the team owner really gets it. However, Mosquito Dickson sounds like something out of a Hemingway novel, making this list.

7. Character Issues (2006, finished 13th. 2010, finished 8th.): Great use of the ESPN catch phrase of the 2000's. In those years, there wasn't a single NFL report on that station that didn't use the phrase "character issues" at some point.

6. the Ju-Co Fuck Ups (2004, finished 14th): Used an F bomb and made me laugh at those numbskulls that lose baseball scholarships because they can't get themselves into a four-year school.

5. ProChinaBuffetEaters (2004, finished 1st): Celebrating great moments in eating history.

4. Skinny Dominicans (2009, finished 12th): Hilarious and politically incorrect. Great combination. Unfortunately, he drafted all fat white guys and finished 12th.

3. PC LOAD LETTER?!?!? (2010, finished 2nd): Took one of the great moments in movie history and ran with it. Used the trash talk option to quote the movie all season. Quality work here.

2. Who is Karim Garcia? (2004, finished 15th): Could have finished as the #1 team name in most leagues. This is simply one of the great all-time baseball quotes, by Pedro Martinez.

1. 69 with Suzyn Waldman (2008 - present, finished 2nd, 18th, 18th): Treadwell wins the prize here, and might just have the best team name in the history of all fantasy sports. It is all things disturbing and hilarious, and easily grabs the #1 spot.

Congratulations to Treadwell!

What do you think? Is there anyone I omitted? Let us know!

All-Time Worst PLPFBL Team Names

Everyone knows that the most important part of fantasy sports is the name of your team.

Well, almost everyone. These owners obviously didn't put a moment of thought into the team they lived and died with all summer. And in most cases, their place in the standings reflected that.

10. Chicago Knights (2004, finished 4th): Boring. Lacking creativity. Lame. Trying too hard.

9. Bumpin' Utley's (2009-10, finished 1st and 16th): The Utley's actually won the league in their first year with this name. Just a little too weird.

8. Homos (2007, finished 20th): No thought, and strangely insulting. Even though his team was called the Homos, he failed to roster Scott Brosius or Bernie Williams.

7. PK Yankees (2005-06, finished 13th and 14th): Broke first rule about NOT naming your fantasy team after a real MLB team. Awful.

6. Dung Stove Dal-Bhat (2010, finished 7th): Creative, but only meaningful to the owner. The rest of the league is left in the dark. Are we supposed to be impressed by this over-the-top name?

5(tie). Red Sox Nation (2008, finished 12th): Simply took a term already widely used in sports and made it his own. We all know you love the Red Sox now, fantastic. Too bad this is about your fantasy team.

5(tie). Bronx Bombers (2007, finished 16th): Now we all know you're a Yankees fan. That makes it easier for us to shit talk you. You must be very proud of yourself. Enjoy your $14 beer and terrible radio announcers.

4. Mariners GM (2009-present, finished 10th and 12th): Lacking creativity. Dull. Maybe the GM stands for Grandma.

3. ClemensDieNow.com (2007, finished 7th) or ClemensRetireNow.com (2008, finished 5th): Ah, the dreaded .com team name. We all hated Clemens but couldn't we find a more creative way to say it? It wasn't even a real .com!

2. The Titanium Sporks (2010, finished 20th): Corny. Trying too hard. Sounds like something that belongs in minor league baseball, not in the prestigeous PicketLine Fantasy League.

1. Dickie Thons (2007-present, 4th, 16th, 16th, 5th): Worst team name five years running. It's unfortunate because prior to the Dickie Thons incarnation, Bjorkman had three consecutive good team names (Chet Lemon Inc, Ben Oglivie all-stars, Who is Karim Garcia?), including one of which will make Wednesday's Top 10 Best list.

Congrats Bjorkman, #1 worst PLPFBL team name all time!

Is there anyone I'm forgetting? Let us know in the comments. Don't hold back!

Roughnecks Cash Annual Check!

Thanks to an enormous final day in which Coach Wozniak benefitted from the likes of Mark Rzepcynski and Nelson Figueroa, the Roughnecks tapped that black gold to capture their 3rd PLPFBL championship in the last four years. Congrats to Greg, who has now taken home $1600 in his four seasons in the league.

Coach Bret and PC LOAD LETTER?!?!? finished a disappointing 2nd. Team PC's final tally was 205.5 points, which would have blown away the competition in any other season. The previous high in points was 192.5 by the 2008 champion Roughnecks.

Taking home the third place prize was the Chirag's Chumps. Coach Amin was the predraft favorite after drawing the "lucky" 16th position in the draft. The Chumps played well all season, but could never catch the two top dogs of 2010.

Prizes....
1st Greg Wozniak, Roughnecks, $500
2nd Bret Jenkins, PC LOAD LETTER, $300
3rd Chirag Amin, Chumps, $100

2010: A Pennant Race Odyssey

Who will take the $500 first place prize?

Greg, and the two-time champion Roughnecks?












OR

Bret, and his four-time money winning PC LOAD LETTER?!?!? team?

Team PC

As of July 17th, PC LOAD LETTER?!?!? holds a 16.5 point lead over the second place Roughnecks. At one point, Bret Jenkins' squad had over 200 rotisserie points. How is he doing it? Well, 194 transactions shows he's working hard, but it looks like his successful draft is really what has kept this ballclub in first place almost all year.

You can start with PC's firstbasemen; first round pick, Miguel Cabrera and eighth round pick, James Loney. The Tigers' firstbaseman has posted 65 R, 67 RBI, 205 TB, and a .419 OB% for team PC and is currently ranked as Yahoo!'s best offensive player in 2010. Loney has put up 47 R, 60 RBI, 144 TB, and a .360 OB% for the LETTER.

Next, go to the outfield, where Bret has capitalized, probably more than any other fantasy team in the country, on the first half success of two Toronto Blue Jays, Vernon Wells and Jose Bautista. Wells was a guy I wouldn't have drafted at all this year, but Bret went out and got him in the 9th round. Wells has responded by posting a 40 R, 48 RBI, 162 TB, .305 OB% line. And while Bautista wasn't technically drafted by Bret, Bautista was acquired in the first run of post-draft waivers on April 3rd. Bautista has put up 51 R, 48 RBI, 147 TB, .354 OB% totals. On the basepaths, Bret has shuffled between Scott Podsednik and Nyger Morgan and gotten 13 SB out of each of them.

On the hill, Jered Weaver (9 W, 142 K, 3.16 ERA, 1.07 WHIP), Dan Haren (7 W, 133 K, 4.60 ERA, 1.35 WHIP), and Jeff Niemann (8 W, 90 K, 2.92 ERA, 1.11 WHIP) have carried the load. Max Scherzer and Doug Fister have also put up significant numbers for the LETTER. Fourth and fifth round draft picks, Jonathan Papelbon (20 SV) and Heath Bell (25 SV) have piled on saves, while free agent pickup John Axford has chipped in with seven of his own. Middle man, Mike Adams leads all of MLB in holds, racking up 22 for Bret's squad.

What's gone wrong? Sitting in first place and having two of the most surprising players in baseball on your squad, it's hard to imagine that anything has gone wrong with this team. But Jenkins can point at second round pick, Pablo Sandoval, as being a disappointment so far. Sandoval's counting stats are pathetic, and he's only produced a .316 OB% for team PC. Bret also drafted Jermaine Dye, who didn't and still doesn't have a team, in the 16th round, just a couple slots before Jon Rauch and Kevin Gregg got picked. Oops.

The second half should be interesting for PC LOAD LETTER?!?!?. Can his Blue Jays outfielders continue to produce? Will Sandoval finally start to hit like it's 2009? Will Bret find some middle relief help to make up for DL'd Mike Adams? Can he keep the surging Roughnecks, Chumps, and Thons at bay?